The beginning of the school year will usually have the highest number of parent volunteers involved in the school and in the school council. There is a spirit of optimism and commitment by parents who understand the value of their efforts and the fact that it makes for a better educational experience for all students in the school.
As members of the school council you demonstrate to your child, and other students in the school, leadership skills that will be of value to them in their educational and career paths.
The first meeting of the school council will likely attract the most parents. The challenge is keeping these parents interested enough to keep coming back. Keeping meetings positive and of value to those in attendance will help to bring people back. The second most important thing that will keep members attending meetings is to keep the atmosphere positive.
It is sad to see when a really committed and valued member of the council decides not to come back because of the negative or personal comments made to or about them. In over 20 years of being involved in school council work, I have seen really good councils be reduced to infighting and conflict.
In my own experience, I was lucky to be able to play a full and active role as a volunteer in my children’s school. I appreciated that not all parents were in the situation to do this, but was grateful for the time that they spent at council meetings providing a valuable voice at the table. I was grateful when they took a day off work to help run the Halloween dance because it was fun for every student in the school.
Conflict developed, one year, when other members felt that as a very active parent, I had more say or my kids got special treatment. This was very troubling for me as I felt, as the school council chair; I had welcomed and treated every member with respect. I learned a valuable lesson from one parent, who seemed to disagree with everything I suggested we do, when she told me “you have really good ideas and I can see you are willing to do the work, but, I don’t want to do the work and I feel guilty when you do it”. I could see other members nodding their heads as she spoke. This was very interesting to me and let me see how the problems had developed. Once the matter was opened, we worked on the issue as a group and after time we were able to come to a positive working relationship. At the end of the day, we agreed that we were all there for the same purpose, the students, all of the students.
I have been involved in situations where there can be a divide in the group if more than one person runs for the Chair position. Rather than pulling together as a team following a valid vote to elect this position, one or two members will become focused on assessing the job that parent is doing in a negative manner. As volunteers, all there for the purpose of the students, we have to understand that everyone is learning, doing their best and rather than criticizing, extending an offer to help will serve the council well.
We must remember that our children see us volunteering for the school council, and representing other parents in a leadership role at the school. We always want to demonstrate to them the qualities of a good leader and set the example for them to become our future leaders. It is our responsibility to teach them that effective leaders should:
- Be respectful of every member of the team
- Give every person has an equal voice at the table
- Recognize and thank people for their work
- Respect confidentiality of the meeting
- Take on challenges with a positive attitude
- Celebrate successes as a team
My motto, based on my years of involvement is:
“It’s not about the power, it’s about the partnership!”
Key to successful school councils
